


Thank You

by Ally_Oop



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23663386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ally_Oop/pseuds/Ally_Oop
Summary: When Merlin falls asleep on the job, Arthur decides to just let him sleep. After failing to realize how exhausted Merlin was, Arthur feels guilty and tries to help out (poorly) with his chores.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 316





	Thank You

Arthur‘s day had been normal, up until this point. He had rolled out of bed, thrown a boot at Merlin, eaten breakfast, thrown the other boot at Merlin, and apologized for the first two boots by throwing a third boot but with slightly less force. Strangely, Merlin hadn’t seemed too keen on accepting his apology, so he added a pillow to the mix to keep things interesting. This, also, did not go over well.  
Merlin lacked his usual bite this morning, and Arthur noted with interest the way he moved slowly about the room, going about his usual chores with a pointed lack of urgency. Merlin was most definitely doing this on purpose, Arthur assumed, and refused to let his attack ruin his perfect day. Partly out of spite, he’d given Merlin a particularly lengthy list of chores before heading out to take a walk.  
It was a nice summer morning and Arthur had decided he really couldn’t be bothered to do much today. He had the right to take a day off, he reasoned. It wasn’t like he got very many.  
Arthur returned to the castle in an exceptionally good mood, whistling as he walked and greeting everyone he passed with a genuine smile and a comment about the lovely weather. He even considered apologizing to Merlin with words this time. However, Arthur’s perfect day came to an abrupt halt when he returned to discover his manservant passed out on the floor.  
Dead was his first thought, and his heart leapt to his throat. He stared until he could confirm that Merlin was still breathing, and sighed, relieved. He watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest for a moment, trying to calm himself back down. Then, the anger set in.  
Arthur could tell from the state of the room that Merlin hadn’t finished a single one of the chores he usually did in half this time. He gritted his teeth, and prevented himself from yelling only by the thought that he might wake Merlin up in an even nastier way. Arthur glanced around and swiped a glove off of the floor, and advanced on the sleeping man. He reared back to give Merlin the slap of his life, but paused. The situation seemed odd. Something about this was very out of character for Merlin, who normally got at least one of his chores done by this point in the day. Arthur let the glove flop to the floor.  
Merlin’s pale face poked out from behind his arm where he’d slung himself across the arm rest of the chair, his neck at a very awkward angle. It couldn’t have been a very comfortable position. Surely if Merlin was so keen on relaxing instead of getting his work done he would’ve chosen someplace more comfortable, and better yet, someplace that wasn’t smack dab in the middle of the prince’s chambers.  
Arthur took a step back. Assuming this wasn’t a personal attack, it meant Merlin had genuinely passed out. Why was he so tired? Arthur racked his brains. He had been slightly hard on him yesterday, but it hadn’t been any worse than the usual. Sure, he may have lashed out a few more times than was necessary and thrown a dozen too many solid objects directly at Merlin’s head, but that wasn’t too extreme. Perhaps it was a bit harsh, he admitted to himself, but it wasn’t like it was any worse than the average day.  
It was then that a truly inconvenient moment of self awareness hit Arthur, and guilt flooded over him. Here he was complaining about his lack of days off while Merlin had been working almost nonstop for a year and a half straight, as well as putting up with Arthur’s temper. Arthur struggled with this revelation for a moment, trying to justify his own actions but coming up short every time. He really had been an ass for no reason, and it occurred to him that his failure to see this until Merlin had literally passed out was a tad pathetic.  
Arthur was almost angry at his own humanity as he moved decidedly across the room, picking up the pillow he’d thrown earlier from where it had landed next to the door. This newfound guilt was truly annoying, and he almost wished that he had simply continued being ignorant. However, he was also relieved to have been made aware sooner rather than later. Better to find out because Merlin fell asleep than to have it yelled at him by Merlin himself after a particularly rough day. Even the thought of that scenario was enough to make Arthur feel guilty.  
Arthur scowled as he returned to Merlin’s side. If anyone saw him doing this they would surely laugh at him. Placing a hand lightly on Merlin’s forehead and pushing up as gently as he could so as to avoid waking him up, Arthur slid the pillow under Merlin’s head. Carefully, he removed his hand at a snail’s pace, watching the other man’s eyes to assure himself that Merlin was still asleep. His eyelids fluttered a little and he murmured something into his arm, but remained sleeping. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.  
Merlin’s neck was straight now, at least. He didn’t fancy having to hear Merlin complaining about his neck hurting the entirety of tomorrow, so Arthur reasoned that his actions were not motivated by anything resembling fondness, but rather in the interest of making his life easier. Yes, that was it.  
Arthur, taking another look at Merlin’s sleeping face, wondered how he hadn’t noticed the obvious signs of fatigue before now. There were bags so dark and pronounced adorning his under eyes that they resembled bruises, and his cheeks were more sunken in than usual, Arthur thought. Amazed at his own lack of attention to detail, he resolved to let Merlin sleep as long as he needed. It was the least he could do after putting him through so much recently. That was not to say, however, that Merlin wouldn’t be put immediately back to work once he woke up.  
Arthur sighed. Now, there was nobody to do the chores. He toyed with the idea of just letting Merlin do them all twice as fast when he woke up, but the concept left a bad taste in his mouth when he considered how much of this problem was his own doing. No, Arthur decided. He had caused the problem and now he must fix it.  
There was a bucket of water and a rag lying on the floor beside Merlin’s chair, his motionless hand dangling inches above it. God, Arthur thought. Merlin had just sat down for a second and was so exhausted that he’d passed out. A pang of guilt hit Arthur, and his eyes lingered on Merlin’s serene expression for a moment. He really needed this, Arthur thought decisively.  
He stopped down and silently retrieved the rag and bucket, pausing to make sure he hadn’t disturbed Merlin. He made his way towards the other end of the room, walking with the bucket extended comically far away from his body to avoid any unnecessary sound. Memories of the time he’d dumped the very same bucket over Merlin’s head flashed through his mind. Arthur winced. He’d been horrible that day. And, he thought with growing guilt. That was the usual.  
He knew exactly why Merlin had the bucket, and it, unsurprisingly, was also because of Arthur. The previous day’s dinner had been stew, and after a particularly snide comment, Arthur had hurled his bowl at Merlin.  
That’s a nasty habit, he reflected. Perhaps he should cut back on the throwing.  
There was a pool of stew on the floor as a result, and Arthur had angrily dismissed Merlin before he could clean it up. Right. Arthur could do this. How hard could it be? He rolled up his sleeves and seized the rag, recoiling slightly at the slimy texture and bumping the bucket in his surprise. He glanced over his shoulder to be sure the noise hadn’t startled Merlin. All clear. He plopped the rag on top of the puddle and was slightly disappointed when it didn’t all disappear immediately. He had rather hoped it would be that easy.  
He moved the rag in an experimental circle, which only succeeded in spreading the puddle out further. Arthur cursed quietly, made sure Merlin hadn’t heard, and continued in more of a scooping motion. This seemed to work at first, but nothing quite got done as the contents of his scoops always ended up sloshing back onto the floor and making more noise than Arthur was comfortable with.  
It occurred to him that the bucket also had a purpose, and he began actually rinsing the rag off on occasion. This worked like a charm, and the puddle was soon nonexistent. Arthur was feeling rather proud of himself. When Merlin woke up, he would prove that he did, in fact, know how to use a rag and bucket.  
He stood up to admire his handiwork and decided that despite his initial view of the task as a sort of penance for his treatment of Merlin, it had actually been quite fun. Arthur smiled, feeling energized, and threw down the rag triumphantly. It hit the edge of the bucket and immediately toppled the entire thing over, creating an intolerable racket as the bucket rolled around and sloshed dirty water all over the floor.  
Arthur squeezed his eyes shut and said a silent prayer that Merlin hadn’t been startled awake. He turned around slowly, accidentally kicking the bucket again in the process. He cursed out loud, and slapped a hand over his mouth. Arthur glanced over at the chair.  
Merlin was awake, and upon seeing Arthur his hand swiped at the spot where the bucket had been and shot up in surprise when it wasn’t there. His light eyes held tentative fear in them, but mostly confusion. Then, a glance to the bucket. And the rag. And the puddle. And Arthur. And back to the bucket. Then back to Arthur. Arthur coughed. Merlin gave him a questioning stare as he slowly straightened up to a normal sitting position. The pillow flopped down into his lap, and Merlin glanced down at it for a moment before looking back at Arthur, a tentative smile forming on his face. He finally spoke.

“You’re cleaning.” 

“I am.” Arthur’s gaze shifted down to the mess he’d made. “What about it?” 

“Well, you’ve not exactly done the best job, have you?”

Arthur thought to yell at him but the anger died in his throat. He couldn’t help but be comforted by the taunting he’d grown so accustomed to. Merlin was smiling at him, but it lacked the usual condescending edge that followed his jabs. He was grateful. Arthur’s heart soared. Perhaps he’d done enough to be forgiven.  
“It was clean a moment ago.” Arthur pointed out quickly. “I just didn’t want to make it too easy for you.”  
Merlin was still smiling, and Arthur shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. He wanted to apologize, denounce his past behavior and pledge to be a better man, but instead he just stared.  
Merlin rose from the chair, carefully replaced the pillow back on Arthur’s bed, and turned to face him with an air of quiet disbelief. He stole quick glances at the bucket every now and then, a small smile still playing at his lips. However, he still moved carefully, as if expecting an outburst at any moment. Arthur supposed that he shouldn’t really be surprised that Merlin was walking on eggshells. He could hardly be blamed, given Arthur’s history of boot throwing and screaming.  
There was a moment of silence, and Arthur felt like he should say something.  
“Why don’t you take the day off?” He blurted out. Merlin looked skeptical, and didn’t immediately react. When he did, he spoke slowly.

“You’ve just made a gigantic mess.”

“I can handle it.”

“I’ve not done any of the chores you asked me to do.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get someone else to do them.”

“Are you feeling alright? Genuine question.”

“Merlin,” Arthur warned.

“Right, sorry.” Merlin raised his hands and made to walk away, but Arthur cleared his throat, which prompted Merlin to turn around and raise his eyebrows expectantly. 

Arthur took a deep breath.

“I wanted to address- I mean I haven’t always been the best- I throw stuff a lot- I never want you to- I’m sorry, Merlin. For all of it.”

It wasn’t the most eloquent apology, and he’d left out a lot of what he had wanted to say, but it was too late now. Arthur forced himself to look Merlin in the eyes. He’d already made enough of a fool of himself, he didn’t need to seem weak on top of that.

“Arthur?”

“Yes?”

A genuine smile lit up Merlin’s face, and the pit in Arthur’s stomach vanished all at once. Merlin gave a slight nod, as if to reassure him.

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know why, but little thoughtful acts just make my heart melt. This was just a little boredom and quarantine induced project; Thank you so much for reading! Have a lovely day 💕
> 
> And also if you have any suggestions for any future merthur fics you’d like for me to try and tackle let me know!


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